Prague Airport to City Center: I Paid €40 for a Taxi — Here’s What I’d Do Instead

I landed at Prague Airport close to midnight on my first trip to the city.

It was late, I had never been to Prague before, and I didn’t feel like standing in the airport trying to understand buses, transfers and schedules. I had internet from my eSIM, found a taxi, paid by card and roughly 15 minutes later I was standing in front of my hotel in Old Town.

The ride cost me around €40.

It was fast and convenient, so I can’t say it was a bad experience. But after spending the next few days using Prague’s public transport, I realized I probably wouldn’t do the same thing again.

Getting from Prague Airport to the city is much easier than it looks.

What I Would Do Today

If I landed during the day with just a backpack again, I would use public transport.

The most practical connection for central Prague is the airport trolleybus 59, which takes you to Nádraží Veleslavín, where you continue by Metro Line A toward the center. Prague Airport itself recommends this as one of the main public transport connections from the airport.

You don’t need a special airport ticket for this route. It uses the normal Prague public transport fare, and the same ticket covers the trolleybus and the metro transfer.

That’s probably the most important thing to know.

You’re not buying an “airport ticket”, then another ticket for the metro. Prague’s public transport is integrated.

If you’re unsure which ticket to buy or how validation works, I explain the whole system separately in Prague Public Transport Tickets Explained: What to Buy, How to Validate & PID Lítačka.

Don’t Automatically Take the Same Route as Everyone Else

The trolleybus to Metro A is what I would check first, but there is also a direct airport bus to Zličín, where you can continue on Metro Line B.

Which one is better depends on where your hotel is.

I wouldn’t waste time at home memorizing station names and bus numbers. Put your hotel into Google Maps or PID Lítačka when you land and see which connection makes more sense.

That’s how I used Prague’s transport during the rest of my stay, and Google Maps was surprisingly reliable for routes and departures.

Prague is one of those cities where changing from a bus to the metro looks more annoying on paper than it actually is.

What About Airport Express?

There is also an Airport Express bus that connects the airport directly with Prague Main Railway Station.

This one makes sense mainly if you are staying near the railway station, continuing your journey by train or simply want a direct connection there.

Unlike the normal airport buses, Airport Express has its own fare. The current adult fare is 200 CZK, and standard Prague public transport tickets are not valid on it.

So I wouldn’t take it just because “Airport Express” sounds like the obvious tourist option.

First check where your hotel actually is.

Arriving Late at Night Doesn’t Automatically Mean Taxi

This is where my experience becomes more interesting.

I landed somewhere around 11 PM to midnight. It was my first time in Prague and I simply didn’t want to start studying public transport after getting off the plane.

So I paid for convenience.

What I didn’t know at the time is that Prague Airport also has night public transport connections after the normal daytime network starts winding down. The airport is served by night buses, and the exact best connection depends on where in Prague you need to go.

Today, I would simply open Google Maps or PID Lítačka before walking toward the taxi.

If there was a reasonable night connection arriving soon, I’d take it.

If it was very late, I was exhausted, carrying heavy luggage or had an inconvenient route to the hotel, I’d still consider a taxi.

There’s nothing wrong with paying for comfort when you actually need it.

Was My €40 Taxi a Mistake?

Not really.

It did exactly what I wanted.

I got out of the airport, got into a car and shortly afterward I was standing in front of my hotel in Old Town. No transfers, no searching for stations and no figuring out a new transport system close to midnight.

The problem was that I assumed public transport would be much more complicated than it actually was.

During the next few days I used the metro, trams and buses constantly, and I quickly stopped seeing a reason to use taxis inside Prague at all.

On the way back to the airport, I already used public transport.

That was the moment I realized I had paid around €40 mainly because I didn’t yet know how easy the system was.

I wrote more about that experience in Why Prague’s Public Transport Makes Renting a Car Pointless.

When I Would Still Take a Taxi

There are situations where I wouldn’t hesitate.

If I landed very late, had several heavy suitcases, travelled with children or simply wanted to reach the hotel door without thinking about anything else, a taxi could easily be worth the extra money.

Prague Airport currently uses Uber Airport as its official taxi service, with rides available through the Uber app as well as airport kiosks and service counters.

For two people travelling with nothing but backpacks, though, I would personally save the money and use public transport next time.

Especially during the day.

What I’d Do Differently Next Time

My first instinct after landing in Prague was:

Airport → taxi → hotel.

After actually experiencing the city, it would now be:

Airport → check Google Maps → public transport.

I’d use the airport trolleybus and metro during normal hours, check the night connections if I arrived late, and keep the taxi as the comfortable backup option rather than the default.

My €40 ride wasn’t a disaster.

It was simply the price of arriving in a city I didn’t know and choosing the easiest solution.

A few days later, I knew better.